As part of her recruitment to the York College track and field team, Rose was invited to attend York’s annual home meet to learn what college meets are like and to get to know her potential future coaches and teammates. At that time, Darris was a sophomore pole vaulter on the team. His coach, Adam, informed him that he would be meeting a prospective teammate at the upcoming Twilight meet. He was asked to introduce himself to the recruit and to make a good impression, with the hopes of convincing her to commit to the college and the team. After the competition, Adam introduced Rose to Darris and the rest of the vaulters. Their conversation was professional and brief—little did she know this person would become her husband nine years later. After this introduction, Coach Adam talked to Rose and her mother about being an athlete at York. Funnily enough, in her mind, she wanted to go to a college far away from home, and York wasn’t her first choice. Eventually, though, thanks largely to her mom’s input, Rose decided to attend York College, and so their love story began.

Darris was a senior in college approaching his graduation at the end of December. One night, while scrolling through his phone, he saw a picture of Rose at a date party with her roommate, Haley. The picture entitled, "My Date Forever and Ever." Darris took this opportunity to message Rose and let her know he would be willing to be her date at her next date party. Coincidentally, her next date party was the following weekend (what luck!) and she happily took this opportunity to get to know him. The theme of the party was called, "Fifth and a Friend". The goal of this party was to split a bottle of liquor between two friends, but Rose and Darris both knew in the back of their minds they would be leaving this party as something more than friends. They will spare you the details of this night, but it set the basis for a relationship full of laughter and amusement. And so, a night that began with sharing a bottle of warm blueberry Cruzan, ended with sharing a lifetime together.

Darris and Rose spent a lot of time together following their first date. Ten days later, on December 18th, Darris graduated from York College. At the ceremony, Rose was officially introduced to Darris's parents, siblings, and grandmother, two of his closest friends (Josh and Garrett), and his Aunt Kelly and Uncle Derrick. Afterward, Darris's sister, Delina, took it upon herself to invite Rose to the Rodrigues family Christmas party the upcoming weekend (good thing Darris was going to invite her anyway). Rose happily accepted. For those who don't know, the Rodrigues family Christmas party is very entertaining—to say the least. It could even be considered an important rite of passage into the family. On Christmas Eve, Rose was introduced to much of the Rodrigues clan that night. Despite their relationship moving along so quickly, for the both of them everything just felt meant to be. After a long night of festivities, Rose and Darris had a conversation about their relationship. They agreed it was time to make it official: They were a couple.

After the work of starting careers, buying a house, and getting and raising two dogs, Darris and Rose decided it was time for a vacation while she was on break from graduate school. And, after their first long day of traveling, it was finally time to explore the wintry landscapes of Iceland. Rose had planned out the itinerary, and the first day included sightseeing around Thingvellir National Park. Later that day, they made their way to the base of a snow-covered mountain. At the top of this mountain sat a geothermal spring perfect for relaxing in after a two-hour trek through the snow. They made it to the hot spring, traded their snow clothes for bathing suits, and took a dip in the steaming water. After relaxing for a couple minutes, Rose joked, "Wow, this would be a perfect place to get engaged to someone." Having waited for the perfect opportunity, Darris sneakily made his way over to his bag. Inside was the most important thing he's ever held, the ring he used to propose to Rose. Ring in hand, Darris returned to where Rose sat in the water. He got down on one knee and, nervously and awkwardly, asked Rose to marry him. Spoiler alert, she said yes! This was the greatest day of their lives—and now Rose and Darris are looking forward to making it the second greatest.